A dishonest customer--did I do the right thing?

I purchased a pair of boots today for $34. There was a sticker on the side of the box that clearly stated a price of $34 as well as a large sign in front of all the boxes. I was taking my receipt from the cashier and preparing to leave when a woman walked up to the cashier next to me to pay for the same pair of boots I just purchased. As I was gathering my things, I heard her say, "I should not have to pay $34 for these boots because I got them over on the $22 sale rack". The cashier said she'd have to call a manager about that to check. I debated in my head whether to just stand there and wait for the manager to come. Because if they were going to give this woman the boots for $22, I thought I should protest and ask for a refund and get them for the same price as this woman. The manager was taking a while to come and I had other places I needed to be, so I decided to leave the store. I do not know if the woman was able to get the boots for $22. I think this woman was being dishonest. I think she knew darn well what those boots cost due to the big sticker on the side of the box but decided to do the old "but they were on the sale rack under the wrong price" trick. Did I do the right thing by leaving the store and not waiting to try to protest for what was a dishonest price? Or should I have stuck around and demanded the same $22 price if the woman was given it?? Thanks for your thoughts!

People move things around in stores all the time. Just because something is sitting on a sale rack doesn't mean it's on sale. The other person might not have been dishonest, just mistaken.

As for waiting around to see if the boots were on sale, yes, you could have done that. On the other hand you said you didn't have time to wait. I guess it would be up to you to decide it it was worth the difference in price to wait.

I think you did fine.

Here's my thinking:
- You knew they were $34, and you were happy to buy them at that price.
- You don't actually know the outcome. The woman probably didn't get the discount. If you had waited, you might have been frustrated for waiting around for nothing. Plus, it would have taken even longer, since you had already paid... it wouldn't be as easy as just ringing up a different price, right? They'd have to figure out how to refund your money, then ring up the new price, etc.

I think it would have been a lot of hassle, for something that probably didn't even happen, and for something that you weren't particularly bothered by to start with. So yup, good call.

Most stores won't give a customer a discount just because something was found on the wrong rack. That's why things are priced on the item itself and are coded in the computer. I doubt she got the sale price.

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. It may seem like a small thing and I know there are better things in this world to worry about, but I was still bothered by it. Thanks for putting my mind at ease!

Thanks for your input! Made me feel better about the situation.

Thanks for your comment! I appreciate your input.

I think you did the right thing by leaving the store because if the shoes you got weren't on a sale rack, then I don't see how you would have gotten the discount. It sounds to me like it might have been a mistake that those same pair were on a sale rack...maybe they were a different pair but they just looked similar? Anyway, I don't think it's a big deal, I think you did the right thing. Since there was no sale sticker on your shoes, you probably wouldn't have gotten any discount.

Here's another vote that the woman with the $22 shoes might not have been lying. I was at a store last night that buys out damaged designer goods, so you never know what you will find and no two items are the same. I had tried on two similar but different shirts. Both had tags. One was slightly cheaper than the other. At some point, the price tag came off the less expensive shirt. The cashier was going to ring it in at the same price, but I told her it was cheaper.

She called for a price check. The manager decided to quote a price 4x what had been on the tag. I didn't buy the shirt. I felt like the manager had decided that I had ripped the tag off myself. It kind of made me mad.

So I would give the customer the benefit of the doubt.. and you probably could have gotten those boots for $22 also.